Before & After: Ruby Press Updates its Fashion PR Branding

You may have noticed that I have a tendency to change things up at PR Couture about once a year. When you stare at the same website day in day out, well, a girl needs to switch it up! When Melissa over at Ruby Press let me know that she was taking her agency through a re-brand (website, blog, business cards and collateral) I couldn’t wait to see the results. I have always loved the original Ruby Press site with it’s modern reds and blues meets vintage typewriter feel and of course needed to know more about how the agency was evolving it’s look and feel.

The new site launched last Tuesday, but with Melissa on a press trip in New York we weren’t able to sit down until early this week. I hope you have as much fun learning about Melissa’s approach and taking a look at the before and afters!

The Original Site

How does the new branding reflect the evolution of Ruby Press?

This new take on the company brand a dramatic change, but I felt like it was time for a fresh, new look. Previously our branding was about eight years old. I wanted Ruby Press to feel more modern, clean, but still feminine and pretty. Our office space was one of the things I showed our graphic designer Liz Siverts and it acted as a big part of the inspiration.

It was important to me that there isn’t a total disconnect when people see our new identity so it’s been tricky. Our logo is still in lower case red letters, but a much fresher, more modern font. We are also using a print but instead of the aqua scroll it will be a variety of soft but bold animal prints.

Business Card Evolution

What process did your graphic designer take you through to lead you to this new look?

I feel very lucky in that Liz and I always understand each other. I gave her photos of our office, and my thoughts on color and pattern, and she took it from there. She always gets it right away…I feel like we’re in each other’s heads! Our web designer, Holly Hagen, took the new branding and created a website design based on that. I gave Holly inspiration links (websites, blogs) and explained my overall vision for simplifying the site, cleaning it up, and giving it a bolder look- and she also was totally on the same page. We’ve worked with Holly for a long time and she’s so wonderful to work with.

New Blog

How did social & mobile considerations influence your approach?

We are actually still working out some kinks with tablet or iPhone use but we did eliminate the flash on the site, which was part of the old website design. And we wanted our Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest buttons to be easy to find, yet subtle and I think our web designer, Holly Hagen, did a nice job of that.

Did you involve your team in the process? If so, how?

I always ask their opinions. The direction for the branding came from me, but I trust and value our employees’ thoughts and opinions. (They have great taste!) Our business cards each have a different animal print on the back- I picked zebra, Kate picked giraffe, and Becca picked leopard. I like that the business cards are the same overall design yet each is just a little bit unique.

Has changing the branding inspired you in any unexpected ways?

This might sound funny, but it makes me want to clean up my desk! We have these gorgeous new note-cards and business cards and they feel so clean and modern- they simply don’t ‘go’ with a cluttered desk!

About This Author

Known as the “fashion publicist’s most powerful accessory,” (San Diego Union-Tribune) and the “West Coast ‘It’ girl of fashion PR,” (YFS Magazine) Crosby Noricks put fashion public relations on the digital map when she launched PR Couture in 2006. She is the author of Ready to Launch: The PR Couture Guide to Breaking into Fashion PR, available on Amazon.
A decade later, Crosby is a successful fashion marketing strategist who spends her time championing PR Couture's growth and mentoring fashion publicists through her signature online course PRISM. Learn more about opportunities to work directly with Crosby at her website crosbynoricks.com